Keep Me Company?
by Katie of Gryffindor
Summary: Draco has nightmares. What can he do to get rid of the images he sees? He goes to the Quidditch pitch to try and blow off some steam, and guess who shows up. Rated for some unsettlling images at the beginning. (slash)


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DISCLAIMER: I don't own them. I don't profess to own them. I do _wish_ I owned them. But I don't own them. I just play with them. *wink*

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Author's Notes: I wrote this at 3am b/c I had the urge to write a story that would make sense with one of my livejournal icons. Basically, it's Tom in Quidditch robes, leaning against his broom with a kind of forlorn look on his face. And the caption of the pic is "Keep my company?" So that's where this fic came from… I hope you all enjoy it! Enjoy! Embrace! Review!

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Keep Me Company?

By Katie of Gryffindor

It had started out like so many other nights. He had a nasty dream and couldn't get himself back to sleep. It wasn't for a lack of trying, of course. But unfortunately for him, the gruesome images of bodies littering the ground around his feet just would not leave his mind. At seventeen, a teenage boy should not have seen that kind of horror. 

But he had. 

And he dreamt about it far more often than he ever would admit. It scared him more than he ever thought anything would. What if some day he became one of those bodies, just lying on the ground and twisted at odd angles. He could see his eyes stuck open and lifeless. 

He realized with a quiet, derisive laugh that his eyes, in fact, had become almost as lifeless as those of the dead bodies he saw in his dreams. 

Whose wouldn't, though. After all he'd seen, even the most lively of people would not be able to hold the sparkle of life in their eyes for much longer. With a sigh, the teen threw his covers off himself and eased his legs off the soft mattress. Slipping his feet into fuzzy blue penguin slippers, the boy stood and stretched silently. 

He was careful not to wake his roommates as he scuffed over to his wardrobe to pick out a set of Quidditch robes. He plucked his broom out of the corner of the closet and then he set off toward the Quidditch pitch.

~ " * " ~

The boy stood on the grassy pitch now, wearing his standard Quidditch practice gear and straddling his broom. There were only two things that were different from his normal practices, and neither concerned him in the slightest. 

With a deep breath, he kicked off the ground, his penguin slippers picking up all the more dirt. He rose languidly into the air, enjoying the feel of the wind through his bed-ruffled locks. 

He sped up and soared into the air, hundreds of feet above the ground. He swooped and dipped over the deserted field, enjoying the silence that two o'clock in the morning brought to the arena. A smile rested itself on his lips as he flew. This was the way he drove those disgusting images from his mind. It was the only thing that ever helped relieve the pain he felt when he looked again into the dead eyes staring back at him in his mind's eye.

He slowed himself to nearly stopped and let his broom sink toward the ground. When he was about twenty feet in the air, he crossed his arms behind him and stretched his body along his broom. After years of playing the game, the teen had learned just the right way to balance himself on a broom and still be laying along it. His eyes were still closed, and he hoped that maybe somehow he could get a bit of shut-eye while he was here.

But no such luck. 

At the sound of his name being called, he scrambled upright and glared down at the disruptor.

"Malfoy?"

"Bloody hell, Potter, can't you let a bloke sleep on his broom in peace?" Draco Malfoy glared down at the offender. 

Harry Potter stared up at him. "I didn't mean to startle you…"

"Well it's a bit late for that, isn't it?" snapped Draco, guiding his broom down to hover at eye-level with Harry. "What do you want, Potter?"

Harry had been wearing a gloomy expression when Draco first gazed down at him angrily, but now the gold-tinged skin of Harry's face was pulled taut in the form of a sneer. "I did want to relax a bit." He glanced down at the ground a second, as though debating about whether or not he should reveal something to Draco. Apparently the trusting part of him must have won, because he surprised Draco with the next statement. "I had a really nasty nightmare and I came to clear it out of my mind." Harry made to leave. "I don't want to disturb-"

Draco held up a hand. "Wait," he said quietly, surprising even himself. "You-" He looked down at his hands shyly. Then he met Harry's eyes. "You don't have to leave," he said firmly. 

This odd announcement fixed an astonished look on Harry's face. "Really. You don't _mind_ sharing the Quidditch pitch with me?"

Draco shrugged noncommittally. "There's plenty of field and only two of us. We don't have to be anywhere near each other."

Harry nodded slowly. "Thanks, Malfoy." Then he kicked off the ground and sailed toward the stars. 

Draco laid back down on his broom. This time the gray irises were exposed and trained on the boy he'd hated for so many years. It was in that moment that all his notions about Harry Potter, the "Great Boy-Who-Lived." He started to roll his view of Harry around in his mind, considering everything that he knew about the Gryffindor.

__

He's a nice guy to the people he cares about. Not me, of course, because he couldn't give a rat's ass about me. But that Mudblood and the Weasel… He adores them. Practically worships them. And Dumbledore. Lupin. That prat, Hagrid. If they're on the side of the Light, Harry Potter probably not only knows them, but adores them. Draco sighed heavily. He realized that he was jealous of the people in Harry's life that had gained the love and trust of the savior of their world.

__

How could I get that boy to adore me like he does everyone else? Draco wanted to be a part of Harry's life. And not just his verbal and physical punching bag. No, he thought that maybe, just maybe, he might want a friendship with Harry. And who knows, maybe even more than that… 

Draco shut his eyes to lose himself in thought as Harry flitted through the air high above him. 

~ " * " ~

Draco had come to a decision. He wanted to spend more time with Harry. And not only that… It dawned on Draco as he lay there on his broom that he fancied Harry. So after an hour of Harry getting nice and slick with sweat from his furious passes across the pitch, Draco sat up on his broom again and started toward Harry. 

"Potter?" Draco spoke timidly, not wanting to scare the poor guy with kindness. 

"Malfoy?" Harry raised an eyebrow, creating an expression that Draco knew well. Something inside himself grinned proudly, knowing he was the one that had taught Harry that look.

"Erm, I just wanted to say-" Draco was looking at his hands. He didn't know how to go about saying that not only did he not hate Harry, but he fancied him…

"What, Malfoy?" Harry was staring at him curiously now. 

Draco took a deep breath. "You're not the only one that came out here to get rid of some nightmares." Draco figured honesty would make life a bit easier.

"Really?" The lifted-eyebrow look was back on Harry's visage. "You're having nightmares too?"

Draco nodded. 

Harry's expression softened. "I feel your pain, if that's any consolation." Harry put a hand out and patted Draco's shoulder gingerly. Then his eyes fell to his left wrist where sat a Muggle wristwatch. "Bugger. Three-thirty. We should get back to bed…"

Harry started toward the ground, Draco right beside him. They touched down and started off toward the castle together.

~ " * " ~

After walking the whole way in silence, Draco spoke again just as they were going to separate. "Potter?"

Harry had one foot on the bottom stair. He turned back to look at Draco, his hand still on the railing. "Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Harry looked wary, but nodded slowly anyway. "Go right ahead."

Draco fidgeted with the hem of his Quidditch practice robes. "What do you dream about?"

Harry stared at the Slytherin for a while, seemingly not knowing if he could really trust the blonde boy. He released the banister and lifted his glasses off the bridge of his nose, rubbing at the place where the nose-rests always sat. Once his glasses were back on his face, Harry stared at Draco. 

"Death and Voldemort, usually." 

Draco nodded. "Me too."

The slightest hint of shock flashed through Harry's eyes. They stood there staring at each other for a while. Then Harry made to say goodnight.

"Well, Malfoy, we really should be in bed now," he said. He started up the stairs toward Gryffindor Tower.

Draco was leaning on his broom with a melancholy look on his face, watching Harry's back retreat slowly when it happened. 

"Keep me company?"

Harry stopped instantly. Draco had no idea where that request had come from, but he was hoping that it was going to help his cause somewhat. He watched the stunned teen above him turn back and stare down at him.

"Wh-what did you say?"

Draco gulped. "Keep me company?" he asked, more confident this time.

"Why in Merlin's name would I want to do that?" asked Harry. 

Draco lowered his eyes again. "I apologize. I-I didn't mean to say that. It's just that-"

"What?" asked Harry, coming back down a couple steps.

"Well, I don't know about you, but when we were on the pitch together, nearly all the thoughts about my dreams left. It was like you just being there was all I needed to get rid of my nightmares… I was hoping…"

Harry nodded his understanding. "I felt it too. I thought I was imagining it."

"So…" Draco looked up at Harry hopefully. "Keep me company tonight?"

Harry thought about it another second. Then he descended the last couple steps toward Draco. "Just company. Sleep in the same bed. No curses. No trying to snog me. Just sleep."

Draco nodded quickly. "Oh, Merlin. I wasn't expecting anything else! Just… _company._

Harry smiled in spite of himself. Draco led the way to the Slytherin Commons.

~ " * " ~

Draco slipped into his pajamas again, hanging his Quidditch robes carefully on their hanger and placing them in his wardrobe. He glanced over his shoulder at Harry, who was standing awkwardly at the door. "Well, come in," whispered Draco. 

Harry stepped further into the room, eyeing the other occupants. "Are they all-" 

Draco nodded. "Out cold," he whispered again. 

Harry looked down at himself, realizing he had no pajamas. Draco was already ahead of the Gryffindor. He threw a set of silk pajamas at Harry and turned away to give Harry privacy. 

Harry set his broom just under Draco's bed to hide it. He and Draco climbed into the bed together, neither wanting be the first to wiggle closer to share the other's warmth. Draco gave up the fight with his conscience and snuggled next to Harry, much to Harry's surprise. 

"Malfoy?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm cold," said Draco matter-of-factly. "There's an extra body in my bed. I'm going to make use of it."

"Oh." Harry gave in too, and they curled up next to each other. "Good night, Draco," said Harry quietly.

The smallest of smiles spread on Draco's lips at the sound of his given name spilling out of Harry's mouth so nonchalantly. "Good night, Harry."

They lay in silence, each trying to get over the fact that he was laying next to the boy that had just that afternoon been his enemy. After a moment, though, Draco broke the hush with two simple words.

"Thank you," said Draco. 

"For what?" asked Harry, surprised.

"Keeping me company."

~*~The End~*~


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